Miranda's Demons

by Ian Miller

  "Yes, the fighting's over," Gaius smiled. "I really don't know. Perhaps I shall earn a little money giving lectures, although I'm not sure how successful that'd be."

  "Lectures?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

  "Yes," Gaius smiled. "Your universities teach something they call classical studies. I once went to a seminar where they were discussing, in Latin, why the Emperor Claudius invaded Britain. I stood up and explained, and that wasn't a success."

  "Why not?" Elizabeth asked, although she had a reasonably good idea. Her knowledge of academics told her that each thought they were an authority, and authorities did not like to be contradicted.

  "First, I was told my Latin was uncouth and my pronunciation was awful. Then I was told my theories were ridiculous."

  "What happened then?" she began to chuckle, as she began to visualize various scenarios.

  "I must admit I was a bit irritated by the bit about pronunciation," Gaius scowled. "There's no way they could have any idea at all how it was pronounced, and I rather feel that I do know better. As for the theories, I told them that they were fact. I was told by the Princeps himself, and if anyone ever knew why he did something, he should have known."

  "What happened then?"

  "I was looked at as if I were stark raving mad," Gaius admitted. "Then I was politely asked to leave. In English."

  "And you did?"

  "I looked noncomprehendingly at him, and asked him, in Latin, what language he had used," Gaius smiled. "That took him back a peg. But I had to leave."

  "You realize that from his point of view you must have been mad?"

  "I know, and it leaves me in a very awkward position. If I want to make money out of something like lecture tours, I have to let everybody know who I am. On the other hand, if I want privacy on Earth, I have to keep my origin secret. Just as you can't unpop popcorn, you can't reverse the telling of a secret. Not that it's a terribly well-kept secret," Gaius added after a moment's further thought.

  "You don't mean to say you think you're going to remain anonymous?" Elizabeth asked with a puzzled expression. The doorbell rang, and she strode towards it.

  "Why not?" Gaius asked.

  "First, because NewsCorp is starting to spread the story about you," she said, as she stood with her hand on the doorknob. "Mind you, if I were you, I wouldn't be very happy about the accuracy." She opened the door, to admit Natasha Kotchetkova, who was resplendently dressed in an ethereal green that seemed to accentuate her figure, yet seemed soft and almost fuzzy, with no clear edges. Her hair seemed to almost glow, and her face had a radiance as if from a Goddess, yet there was no discernible sign of make-up. As a striking contrast, set on the green below her left shoulder was the gold and blood-red of Gaius' brooch, its ancient solid and striking workmanship standing in stark contrast to the subtle outlines of the future.

  "Come in," Elizabeth managed, as she gasped at Natasha's appearance, an expression that clearly pleased Natasha. "You look absolutely stunning!"

  "Thank you," Natasha smiled. "I've always thought you had a low opinion of my dress sense, so I'm pleased you approve."

  "You've never dressed like that before," Elizabeth muttered, as a touch of the seething from the perceived rebuke showed through. "That brooch! It almost looks real."

  "It is," Gaius interposed. "It was captured by Pompey from Mithradates."

  "It must be incredibly valuable," Elizabeth said as she peered at it. "I must say I admire your courage if not your sense at your walking in New York, even for a few metres, wearing that."

  "Perhaps I have great faith in Justice's ability to keep down crime," Natasha bantered. "The Council gives you a lot of money to protect the citizens."

  "Not enough to stamp out crime," Elizabeth shook her head sadly. "And I'll tell you something in private. There'll never be enough."

  "I think stealing that brooch would be more difficult than you might think," Gaius remarked with a quiet laugh, "but shouldn't we offer Natasha a drink?"

  "Of course! Please, help yourself," Elizabeth said, pointing to the bar cabinet.

  "Thanks," Natasha said, then continued in a light-hearted tone, "and what were you two up to?"

  "Mr Claudius here has been telling me he's going to lead a quiet private life."

  "And what's wrong with that?" Gaius asked.

  "Look, you command the most powerful force in the solar system. You've freed the entire Earth from an alien tyranny, you've got the world at your feet."

  "So?"

  "So you're trying to tell me you're just going to slip away unnoticed?"

  "Why not?" Gaius replied.

  "Do you realize how boring that would be to a person who could do what you've done?" Elizabeth asked. "Sure, for a few weeks doing nothing might seem like heaven, and for a few months you might explore the planet and give lectures, but what then?"

  "I must admit I hadn't thought that far," Gaius nodded.

  "There'll be plenty of things he could do," Natasha shrugged.

  "Of course there are," Elizabeth agreed. "All I want to know is, what?"

  "Why?" Natasha asked.

  "Well, I . . ."

  "You want to position yourself better," Natasha offered.

  "Well, I suppose so," Elizabeth said. Somehow this evening had gone completely off the rails, and she was unsure how to retrieve the situation."

  "You may be wasting your time with me, then," Gaius shrugged.

  "You dislike me, don't you?" Elizabeth simpered.

  "No, I don't," Gaius replied quietly. "This is the first time I've met you properly, and from what I can make out, you're as capable as anyone on the Council. If you must know, I've quite an admiration for what you've done."

  "Enough for me to have a role in your Government?"

  "That's why you're wasting your time," Gaius shrugged. "It's not that I dislike you, but rather it's that I'll be totally irrelevant to your ambitions."

  "What do you mean?" Elizabeth was puzzled.

  "Your future is in your own hands," Gaius said earnestly. He leaned forward, and grasped Elizabeth's hand, and as his eyes bored into hers, he said slowly, "I will not even consider attempting to govern Earth, if that's what you fear. I intend to honour my promise and resign my commission. Earth will choose its own government, and choose one without any involvement in any form from me."

  Elizabeth stared in disbelief, then as if realization dawned, she responded, "I know you can't declare your intentions, and I know you'll have to be asked several times, and you'll publicly refuse, but in the end, you'll arrange to be asked just enough times to be able to accept with the required reluctance and –"

  "Why can't you just accept his word?" Natasha interrupted irritably. "Why go on like this?"

  "It's in his blood," Elizabeth shook her head. "Such ambition must be hidden, to give the appearance of nobility, the reluctant Emperor dragged forward to do his duty, but –"

  "That's nonsense," Natasha snapped.

  "He came from a family who absolutely demanded, on pain of death, that they be begged to take the Imperium. They wielded total power, demanded the senate beg them again and again to be Consul, then modestly declared themselves Gods. Please, Mister Claudius, I can understand this. All I want to know is what you're going to do?"

  "This is complete rubbish," Natasha said angrily. "Gaius, let's leave, now."

  "No," Gaius replied sadly. "I can understand better than most what she's saying. Once there was the second Gaius Julius Caesar, and power depraved him terribly. In fact it's only since I've been back that even I have properly grasped his vileness. Elizabeth, in some ways it hardly matters whether you believe this or not, but I am not like that man. I have no intention of following down that path."

  "But . . ." Elizabeth started, then continued, "how can I believe that?"

  "I don't know," Gaius replied quietly. "You will believe when events unfold. Perhaps you might allow me to learn from the mistakes of others. Perhaps you might ask what possible benefit is there f
or me?"

  "Power?" Elizabeth offered. "The ability to have people do whatever you wish?"

  "That presupposes I wish them to do something in particular," Gaius replied with a dry laugh. "I have no desire to order people about."

  "You can have ideas of what should be done."

  "I'm afraid I don't," Gaius interrupted. "To be honest, I'm not even sure what the real problems are on Earth now. And even if I had some solution, I would hope I would try to persuade rather than impose."

  "You don't have to want a particular outcome," Elizabeth persisted, although she was now speaking with less forcefulness, less conviction. "The mere desire for power has driven many people, including your emperors."

  "No," Gaius shook his head sadly. "You must understand the great fear of Rome in my time was the anarchy of the late republic, when Roman slaughtered Roman, Roman confiscated from Roman, and nobody had any idea how to arrange their life free of the threat of being murdered. The great Augustus put an end to that, and in some ways it was only his charisma and ability that could hold Rome together. Those who followed were considered a lesser evil than the alternative. Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, they all thought they were taking the purple for the benefit of Rome. They thought they took power, but in truth, power took them, some more than others. I have no such illusions that I am needed, for in truth I am not. I have no intention of succumbing to the depravity of such power."

  "Yet from your experience you must have some idea of where Earth should go?"

  "You mean, I think I know what's good for you, and here it is, you're going to take it and like it," laughed Gaius. "No, to find the solution, you have to understand the problem. I am not of your culture, your time. I really don't know what your problems are, so how can I claim to know their solutions?"

  "But you must know how Ulse, say, is governed?"

  "But that may be exactly what you don't need," Gaius continued. "Their social problems are very different from yours. There are many forms of government that work very well for their own societies. Indeed, you're aware of the Ranhynn?"

  "Yes, but of course I haven't actually met one."

  "I rather suspect you'd be almost horrified if you saw their system," Gaius shrugged, "yet that has served them for millions of years. Yes, I can see things that could be changed, but Terrans may well prefer things to remain the same. My changes might be disastrous for them. "

  "In what way?"

  "All right. Let's suppose I set an objective where Earth needs to change. I might think the biggest impediments are the bureaucracy and a myriad of vested interests. I might tear the bureaucracy to shreds, and remove people whose ambition is to be important. The problem might be replaced by a worse one, a system where nobody knows how to get things done."

  "But surely they can learn?" the stunned Elizabeth asked.

  "Yes, and the exception will," Gaius shrugged, "but then that person becomes vulnerable to being replaced by someone else who's more devoted to being important. As long as you rank people by where they get rather than by what they do, the people that get to the top are those with the best skills to organize their way to get to the top. That's fine if you want to preserve the status quo, because these people with no ideas will be marvellous at stopping anybody with them. The doers always lose out because they waste their time doing things."

  "That's a bit cynical, isn't it?"

  "You think so? Then consider the vested interests. Leave them, and nothing happens. Tear them away, and you have a vacuum. What rushes in to fill it is the quickest moving, not the most desirable. Think of baring soil to make a garden. Left to its own devices, what prospers are weeds, the quickest to develop in a given space, and certainly not the most useful. Perhaps now you can see that to achieve my objective I might have to tear everything to bits, but I probably couldn't control what replaces it. There could be a total disaster."

  "But making sure the right things are done is what leaders are for!"

  "If you have leaders who know what they're doing, know what the people want, and are prepared to work for them, yes," Gaius agreed. "I don't fit the bill, and modern people wouldn't want to follow me anyway. Yes, I have opinions on what Earth should do next. There are probably a number of options, but none of them include having me as ruler."

  "You're serious, aren't you?" Elizabeth said, after a pause.

  "I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say this, but yes," Gaius shrugged.

  "Oh!" came the quiet, non-committal reply.

  "You seem almost disappointed," Natasha commented. She was leaning forward slightly, and although her voice carried little emotion, her face muscles were tense, and her eyes bored into Elizabeth.

  "No, I'm not disappointed," came the flat response. "Just a little surprised."

  "Exactly what have you done?"

  "Nothing, really," came the flat reply, then she lifted her head and looked at Natasha with a touch of defiance. "It's more what I haven't done, and what I was going to do."

  "And that was?"

  "If you must know," Elizabeth said quietly but firmly, as she turned to face Gaius. She realized at last that the evening had disintegrated, and she had totally misread the situation. There was now nothing she could do to improve her lot, but she was not going to simply lie down. "I was going to ensure you never became Emperor."

  "And how were you going to do that?" Natasha asked curiously.

  "I was going to find out your plans if I could and stop them."

  "How?"

  "Any means necessary!"

  "Including killing Gaius?" Natasha asked coldly.

  "If that was the only way of stopping a dictatorship, yes."

  "Why you traitorous little –" Natasha flared.

  "That depends on your point of view," Elizabeth said with continued defiance. "I do not believe Earth requires a military dictatorship right now."

  "Nor ever again," Gaius interposed.

  "You're taking this very well!" Natasha said in surprise, as she turned towards Gaius. "This woman just said she was going to kill you."

  "No," Gaius replied quietly. "She said she was going to do her civic duty, as she saw it, and stop a tyrant. And, for what it is worth, the killing of a tyrant was a sign of nobility in the Res Publica."

  "Her duty is to enforce the law," Natasha countered. "Assassination is hardly part of that duty."

  "An interesting point," Gaius replied as he leaned back totally relaxed. "If a group becomes the government, everything they do is lawful, because they make the law. Therefore they can murder, torture, whatever, and there is no lawful recourse, no matter how evil they are."

  "So assassination's all right? You don't agree with the government, so you assassinate, with the reasonable defence that they're tyrants?"

  "Perhaps what I'm saying is that there have to be some laws which bind and limit governments. In principle, you've got the elements of that, but –"

  "But it doesn't work properly," Elizabeth interrupted. "But enough philosophy. What do you intend to do with me?"

  "Nothing!" Gaius shrugged.

  "Nothing?"

  "Unless there's something else you haven't told us," Natasha warned.

  "Are you threatening me?"

  "Let's put aside the animosity for a moment," Gaius proposed, and he turned towards the Justice Commissioner. "I think the point Natasha's making is valid, but there's something that's more important. It's not what's happened that's as important as what's going to happen. You're going to have to decide where you want to end up when this is all over, and if you've got yourself into a situation you don't like now, you're going to have to undo as much as you can."

  "I haven't really done much at all," Elizabeth said, after a moment of thought. "I know, but cannot prove in court beyond reasonable doubt, there was a traitor on Earth and that man was Munro. Reiner was probably involved initially in dealing with the M'starn, having a bob each way, so to speak. If you could prove it, he'll almost certainly argue it was only to preserv
e settler's lives, and apart from helping the settlers fill their minerals tithes, I don't know of any other involvement on his part. I know he had an exploration team on Mars wiped out by some of Munro's men. I've tried to set Reiner off against Munro."

  "You tried to shake Munro down, didn't you?" Natasha accused.

  "There're two account numbers," Elizabeth said, after a brief pause. "And there're two more," she added, as a slight smile crossed her face, "that were, I believe, arranged from Tashkent."

  "You got Kleppe to watch me?" Natasha accused. She now knew why Kleppe had been so against her taking his story to Justice. "You were planning –"

  "I got Kleppe to watch Munro and GenCorp," Elizabeth countered firmly. "I was searching for evidence of treachery, because Munro had to acquire his evidence from somewhere. Tashkent was an obvious source."

  "And why didn't you confront me with this so-called evidence?"

  "Because I traced these account numbers directly to your hand, if not your person," Elizabeth countered. "If you had a double agent, and if I'd blown it, your ability to feed false information to the enemy would have been blown."

  "That was very thoughtful of you," Natasha replied coldly.

  "Yes," Elizabeth replied, "and if you didn't have a double agent, then exactly what was going on? And whatever it was, it would hardly benefit me to go charging in, would it?

  "Now," Elizabeth continued when Natasha failed to reply, "the interesting thing about these four accounts is that each of them has had substantial moneys put in them, and nobody has so far drawn anything out."

  "The two situations aren't the same," Natasha said firmly.

  "No? Let me explain our side. I was trying to get Munro to do something he shouldn't, so he could be nailed, and the only leverage I had was his alleged treachery. Threatening was pointless, because the evidence was either usable or not usable. Blackmail, though, is different, because demanding money was one thing that Harvey would understand. Now, I would guess you took the other money so that Harvey would think he was getting information of value, but I could be wrong. So, what now?"